Progress on MEA’s Top Priorities

MEA advocated for measures to increase educator pay, long-term disability insurance for public school employees, and gun safety legislation to make our schools and communities safer.

Celebrating Our Legislative Successes

This year, the Maine Education Association worked hard to create policies and laws to address issues you are dealing with in your work, your schools, and with your students. MEA will continue to advocate in the next legislative session for policies that increase teacher retention and recruitment, retirement benefits, and school funding. In addition to the bills listed below, MEA’s presence at the 131st Legislature has:

• Advocated for adding hundreds of millions in additional state funding for local school districts
• Eliminated the testing mandate tied to teacher evaluations
• Ensured that school employees and other public employees were included in the Paid Family Medical Leave legislation
• Advocated for a law which requires administrators to collaborate with local unions when educators face dangerous behaviors at school and established a grievance process to address such issues
• Closely monitored and updated members on proposed certification changes from the Department of Education

Increasing Pay for All Educators:
Increasing the Minimum Wage for All Support Staff
The proposed bill would have raised the minimum wage for all school support staff. MEA’s proposal would have raised the minimum wage for support staff to 125% of the state minimum wage and raised the minimum wage for all ed techs to 150% of the state minimum wage.

Status of the Proposal: The amended version of the bill lowered the minimum wage proposal to 115% of the state minimum wage for support staff and 125% of the state minimum wage for ed techs. This bill passed the House and Senate and was funded in the supplemental budget signed by the Governor.

Improvements to Benefits for Educators and Retirees
Increase the State’s Share of Healthcare Costs for Retired Teachers
Last year the state provided a 5% increase in the retired teacher health care program, bringing the state subsidy of the Medicare Advantage Plan offered by MEA Benefits Trust to 60% of the premium. In 2024 MEA proposed lifting the state share for retired teacher health care program an additional 5% to 65%.

Status of the Proposal: We achieved strong bipartisan support for additional increases in 2024, but failed to get the funding necessary for enactment.

Labor Relations and Union Rights
Addressing Student Dangerous Behavior
Over the last few years, MEA has advocated and passed dangerous student behavior legislation to address growing concerns MEA members have about behaviors they see in schools and a lack of action from administrators. This bill strengthened previous dangerous behavior legislation by allowing the Union to file a grievance if the bill is not followed.

Status of the Proposal: This bill was passed by the House and Senate and became law without the Governor’s signature.

Streamline Union Recognition to Strengthen Labor Law Enforcement
This bill created a more streamlined process for public employees in higher education and other public sector jobs to join a union via a card-check process. The card-check process is easier, faster, and avoids delayed union election procedures.

Status of the Proposal: This bill was passed by the House and the Senate and signed into law by the Governor.

Gun Safety Measures
In the wake of the Lewiston tragedy last October, the MEA prioritized gun safety legislation with the hope that these measures can keep our communities and our students safe. This year, MEA worked with the Gun Safety Coalition and its more than 60 organizational members to move the following legislative priorities forward.

Partial Background Check Loophole Closure
Proposed by the Governor, this bill partially closed the background check loophole by requiring a background check on all advertised firearms sales. It also amended the state’s “yellow flag” law and included other measures to address gun safety in Maine.

Status of the Proposal: This bill was passed by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by the Governor.

72-Hour Waiting Period for Gun Purchases
Passed by slim margins in both houses, this bill established a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of a firearm and the transfer from a seller to a buyer.

Status of the Proposal: This bill passed in both the House and the Senate and became law without the Governor’s signature.

Understanding Our Challenges

MEA worked on additional bills over the past two years that did not become law. Next year, MEA will continue to collaborate with pro-education allies in the Legislature to make more progress on these critical issues.

We also invite you to visit our Legislative scorecards by scanning the QR code on the next page to see how your representative and senator voted on these measures.

Increasing Minimum Starting Salary for Teachers to $50,000 by 2027
As part of MEA’s ongoing efforts to increase pay for educators, MEA supported a bill that would gradually raise the minimum wage for teachers from the current minimum of $40,000 to $50,000. While Maine made recent progress in raising pay for teachers, the state continues to rank lowest for average starting salary in New England.

Status of the Proposal: This bill was carried over from 2023. It was voted on and approved by the House and Senate but did not receive funding. The final bill was not passed.

Disability Coverage for Educators
Lacking long-term disability insurance, members of MainePERS face financial hardship in the event of extended illness or disability. This bill required MainePERS to provide long-term disability coverage.

Status of the Proposal: This bill was passed by the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.

Bump Stock Ban
This session, a bill was presented to ban “bump stocks” and other mechanical or electronic devices that allow semi-automatic guns to operate more like fully automatic firearms or machine guns.

Status of the Proposal: This bill narrowly passed the House and Senate and was vetoed by the Governor. The Legislature attempted to override the veto, but the veto was sustained.

Addressing the Longstanding Pay Gap for Maine Educators

Maine Educators have long faced a pay gap compared to occupations with similar education, qualifications, and experience. For years, wages for educators have risen more slowly than inflation, leaving many of our educators struggling and working multiple jobs to stay afloat. Stagnant wages have plagued retention and recruitment efforts and even caused some educators to leave education earlier than expected to pursue other careers. In fact, the Department of Education announced that they expect shortages in nearly every subject area and grade level.

Kim Hubbard (Tri-County ESP Association) has been an education technician for over two decades. Hubbard and other members from across the state joined a movement of MEA educators who have spent the last year pushing lawmakers to raise educators’ wages and help address the staffing shortages in nearly every district in Maine.

“We don’t have a shortage of people wanting to be Ed Techs, we have a shortage of people who can afford to be an Ed Tech,” Hubbard said in her written testimony to the Education Committee. “A comparison to consider is Walmart starts their student employees higher than the minimum wage. I know this because the kids at school delight in telling me they make more than me!”

MEA’s effort to raise wages for support staff resulted in the first ever new minimum for all hourly paid educators in our schools. This landmark bill (LD 1064) paves the way for educators across the state to be compensated better for the invaluable support they provide our students and schools, ensuring the safety of our educational institutions. The final proposal was funded through the supplemental budget and raises wages for all education technicians to 125% of state minimum wage and other hourly support staff to 115% starting in the 2025-2026 school year. If the bill were in effect today, the minimum wage for all ed techs would be $17.69, and the minimum wage for all other hourly support staff would be $16.28.

In the first year of implementation (2025-2026 school year), the state will pay the full costs of the increases. In the future, costs will be reflected in the school funding formula. Additionally, the supplemental budget maintained 55% of state funding for schools for the fourth consecutive year.